Category Archives: Ministry Lessons

Christmas Eve is one week away. I have the privilege of coaching four of our Redemption church planters on a regular basis, and I recently shared with them some of the key lessons I’ve learned from doing Christmas Eve services. They gave encouraging feedback, so I thought I’d share it more broadly. 1. Evaluation. […]

I was recently asked by a pastor friend to recommend my top 10 most influential resources for pastors, church planters, or those aspiring to high-level ministry leadership. He wasn’t looking for explicitly theological resources as much as tools that explore ministry design, pastoral leadership, and developing a disciple-making ministry. While a number of these resources flow […]

Yesterday I took our staff to tour the Amazon Fulfillment Center (it’s named “Phoenix 6”). “Fulfillment Center” sounds like a place where all your dreams would come true, but it’s really just a giant warehouse where Amazon orders are processed and shipped (maybe the same thing if you like shopping online). It was amazing. The first […]

Every pastor wonders how much difference he is making. I’m no different. I want to know to what degree my personal ministry, as well as our church’s ministry, is really helping people grow in their faith. I ask questions like: Are we truly making disciples or are we just keeping people active? Does activity/participation = growth? Which […]

For most pastors, it usually starts with the opening of a laptop. Sometimes it’s on a smartphone or tablet. Often, another pastor recommended it. With a few simple clicks, the video rolls or the sound begins. The faces and voices are familiar, but the settings change. The best sites have fresh content. New things never […]

This past week was crazy. I took our five Pastoral Residents on our first annual “church tour.” We decided to stay close to home and see what we could learn from the Church (or part of it) in Phoenix. We interacted with 10 churches, met with 7 leaders, participated in 6 worship services, heard 2 […]

Abiding in Christ is not optional for effective Christian leadership. If you want to do true spiritual good, you must walk in dependence. Francis Schaeffer said that the central problem of our age is: the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, individually or corporately, tending to do the Lord’s work in the power of the […]

At Redemption Church Gateway, we recently completed a 90-Day Tithe Challenge. We issued the challenge as part of our “Building a Stronger Church” series in a message simply titled, “Generosity” (you can see me issue the challenge at the 34:23 mark). The challenge was to either start giving 10% or, for those who were already tithing, to intentionally […]

I launched FaithfulAndFruitful.com about 10 months ago and today marks post #100. I thought I’d take a quick look back at some favorite posts and links, as well as what I’ve learned. Top Posts (all-time traffic) The Best Tool for Accomplishing Important Things 5 Lessons from Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley 10 Mistakes Young […]

And that’s OK. Many people think about church like I think about my kids’ soccer team — on the way to and from the game. That’s about all. I don’t sit at home during the week wondering how their corner-kick strategy is coming. In the same way, many people think about church on Sundays as […]